As we beginthe new year, you might be considering your financial goals, and how you can meet them more effectively, by making your money work harder. One way you could do this, is by opening a position in the stock market, investing your capital in some of the world’s best performing stocks right now.
When you purchase shares in the stock market, you will own a minute portion of that company, and can profit both from price movements in the market and dividends — if these apply.
You can also invest in financial derivatives and take part in online stock trading on Plus500, for example, speculating on the values of some of the world’s leading stocks using a contract for difference (CFD).
At the time of writing, many growth stocks have had a slow start to the year, so many investors are looking tomature, established companies like Unilever (UL).
In this article, we’ll take a look at this leading consumer goods company, and explain why it could be a great potential investment right now.
Keep reading to find out more.
What is Unilever?
Unilever is a diversebrand that was founded in 1929. It was initially a merger between the British soap maker Lever Brothers, and the Dutch margarine production company Margarine Unie.
From there, the company continued to diversify, and today it’s a multinational consumer goods brand whose products include:
- Food
- Condiments
- Wellbeing vitamins/supplements
- Tea and coffee
- Cleaning products
- Pet food
In fact, that’s just naming a few, since Unilever owns over 200 brands!
Notably, Unilever reigns as the world’s largest producer of soap, and in 2020 recorded a turnover of nearly €51 billion. It’s also an example of a company who thrived during the height of the pandemic, as enforced lockdowns in the UK alone, saw more people baking, cleaning, eating, and spending far more time at home.
Unilever stock
As a mature stock and market leader, Unilever is able to release dividends to its shareholders. This means they distribute a portion of their profits on a regular basis, to those who have purchased shares in the company.
These dividends can provide investors with great, reliable long-term gains on their investment and can be strategically re-invested in order to obtain greater positions in the stock market.
Following its success in 2020, the company’s momentum slowed in 2021, which could largely be attributed to the world’s staggered return to normality and rising inflation rates in several countries.
However, as we’ve entered 2022, the company has made a strong start, and experts have predicted that Unilever could experience an earnings growth of 10%. This, combined with the healthy dividends that shareholders can receive, makes the company a potentially worthy addition to your 2022 portfolio.
The stock market can provide potential opportunities to profit— and since the market is so volatile, these opportunities can arise frequently. You can take advantage of short-term price swings, in order to generate returns on your investment.
In order to effectively profit fromprice movements in the stock market, you’ll want to use fundamental and technical analysis,as well as have a developed understanding of the factors that can affect stock prices. It’s important to remember that whilst volatility can enable you to make profits, it also puts you at risk of making losses on your investment.
To help you, there are a variety of risk management tools available to use when you invest on an online trading platform. You’ll also be able to find an economic calendar, that will help you to plan ahead for any future events whichcould affect the market. On some online trading platforms, you may also be able toopen a free demo account to practice trading without depositing your own capital.
